Baylor OC Philip Montgomery to be new Tulsa head coach

Baylor offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery will be the new head coach at Tulsa, the school announced Thursday, confirming an earlier report from SI.com.

Montgomery will replace Bill Blankenship, who was fired earlier this month after a 24-27 record in four seasons, which included a 5-19 mark the last two years.

A long-time disciple of Art Briles, Montgomery has coached under the Baylor head coach for 16 years, dating back to Stephenville (Texas) High. He jumped to the college level under Briles at Houston in 2003, coaching the backfield, and served as co-offensive coordinator in his final year with the Cougars. Montgomery moved with Briles to Baylor in 2008, coaching the backfield and serving as co-offensive coordinator before taking over sole responsibility as offensive coordinator in 2013. Montgomery also calls the plays for the Bears’ potent, up-tempo offense.

He has a remarkable track record of developing quarterbacks, working with Kevin Kolb and Case Keenum at Houston and Nick Florence, Robert Griffin III and Bryce Petty at Baylor. The Bears’ offense averaged 581.3 yards per game this season, its second consecutive season leading the nation in total offense and fourth straight year in the top two. Montgomery was a finalist for the Broyles Award in 2013 when Baylor set Big 12 records for total offense (8,044 yards) and scoring average (52.4 points per game).

Montgomery will have his work cut out for him rebuilding a Tulsa offense that averaged just 5.0 yards per play this year, 94th in the FBS. The Golden Hurricane went 2-10 in their first year in the American Athletic Conference, marking their worst record since 2002.